Editoral FITS 496 by Mia Francis Shanley

Editoral FITS 496

S/S 25

F I T S

“WOMEN IN MALE FIELDS”

4. Letter From The Editor

6-8. Trend Pages

9. Introduction

10-14. Editorial Images

15. Credits

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Growing up as one of five women in my family, especially as the youngest, I gained a unique perspective on womanhood. Constantly being around the perceptions, thoughts, patterns and behaviors of the women in my family allowed me to evaluate what womanhood meant to me at a young age. The women in my family showed me there is power in femininity, but that I am not confined to societies view of this. I quickly came to understand that, consciously or not, societies view of women tells them to shrink themselves in order to please the expectations of men or tradition. I grew up being aware that majority of men truly believe women are less than men in many ways, especially when it comes to sports. As a child I heard this at recess through insults like “you run like a girl”, as a preteen with comments in our physical education class like “girls shouldn’t sweat”, and now as an adult woman I hear comments in fitness culture like, “I don’t like when women lift, it makes them look bulky”.

Comments like these, along with the trending hashtag #womeninmalefields, are what inspired this shoot. I collaborated with powerful women in my close circle that I look up to in order to make this vision come to life, including model Elle Jameson and jewelry business owner, Avery Scott. This shoot is all about embracing our femininity as women and using it to our advantage rather than as an insult. From the weight room to the boardroom, I am encouraging women to play to their strengths and use their woman-ness to compete and succeed in the same fields as men.

Communicating this juxtaposition through fashion was a fun challenge. I pulled inspiration from the sporty chic aesthetic in Alexander Wang’s S/S 2019 collection and Jaded London’s 2000s Archive collection to create something strong, soft and hopefully something truly fresh to fashion. After working past location issues, the biggest success of this project was getting to creatively express not only an aesthetic I love, but also my perception on the power of women. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to execute a creative fashion shoot and push my boundaries with styling. I hope through these photos, you can see not only the story of womanhood I aim to share, but also the genuine joy I experience getting to do what I love.

- Mia Shanley